Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book

PG	Rottentomatoes.com Rating:95%	1994
(Thematic material including mild peril/danger)	Picky Flicks Quote: "This movie...is a ripping adventure yarn,." -Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times	RUNTIME: 111 mins.
Visit:www.screenit.com for complete details		Movie Mood:Wild

Even without Baloo along to sing “The Bear Necessities,” Disney’s live action rendition of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book manages to be a great deal more enjoyable and engaging than the previews gave it any right to be. Faint praise? Perhaps, but The Jungle Book is one of those earnest-looking film adaptations that promises to inspire and instead induces a somnolent state of indifference. Iron Will, a similarly sincere Disney offering from the same year, is a good example of this: stirring storyline, solid acting, good intentions…snooze-worthy results.

The Jungle Book, on the other hand, manages to rise above such low expectations with a combination of several things, including spot-on casting, dazzling locales, and a fair bit of intentional (as well as unintentional) humor.

As the grown-up version of the jungle boy, Mowgli, Jason Scott Lee’s sole priority might seem to be swaggering around in a skimpy loin cloth that showcases his gleaming, rock-hard abs and legs. But it doesn’t take long for his screen presence to overshadow his impressive physique. Lee is naturally endearing, eschewing with cartoonish antics even though his character speaks almost no English at the film’s outset and displaying a gift for comic timing, especially in his facial expressions.

The rest of the film’s cast is equally well-characterized with Lena Headey heading up the supporting characters as Kitty Brydon, a headstrong yet sympathetic local official’s daughter, who knew Mowgli as a child. Sam Neill is gruffly affectionate as her equally sympathetic, if concerned, father, and John Cleese rounds out the “good guys” by adding a splash of much-needed silliness in his role as family friend, Dr. Plumford.

If there is a weak link, it is, perhaps, the villain. Of course, in the cartoon version, Shere Khan is Mowgli’s greatest enemy, but since this is not the “talking animal” sort of movie, a slightly more verbose antagonist is needed and found in the form of Captain William Boone, Kitty’s arrogant suitor. It’s really impossible to tell whether the character is so poorly sketched as to push Cary Elwes into overacting or if that’s how he chose to interpret the role. Either way, it’s hard to take Captain Boone seriously. And his fuzzy caterpillar mustache doesn’t help things a bit.

By introducing the element of romance as an integral part of the story, this version of The Jungle Book ends up being considerably different than the cartoon or, certainly, the book, from which it claims to derive its content but to which it bears hardly a passing resemblance. But that isn’t such a bad thing since one hardly wants to watch a movie one has already seen, only this time with “real” people. Still, the themes of man against nature as well as man against greed come through quite clearly, and there are enough familiar names and circumstances to keep us on track with our childhood memories of the story.

The Jungle Book is actually a little long for most Disney offerings, coming in at just under two hours, but the action is well-paced and maintains a good balance between suitability for children (although an unsettling scene involving a giant python might be a bit much for very small tykes) and interest for adults. Original, it is not, but satisfyingly entertaining it is, and I’ll take that over so-dazzling-different-only-two-people-in-the-world-will-“get”-this any day.

Until next Wednesday, stay picky! Your mind will thank you later.